Milos Raonic ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He has been
ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP), making him the highest-ranked Canadian in ATP history. He has won eight
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
titles, and reached a
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
final at the
2016 Wimbledon Championships
The 2016 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main draw commenced on 27 June 2016 and concluded on ...
.
Raonic first gained widespread recognition by reaching the fourth round of the
2011 Australian Open as a qualifier.
Coupled with his first ATP Tour title three weeks later, his world ranking rose from No. 152 to No. 37 in one month, and he was named the 2011
ATP Newcomer of the Year. Raonic is the first player born in the 1990s to be ranked in the top 10 and to qualify for the
ATP Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant tennis event in the men's annual calendar after the four majors, as it features the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams based on their ...
. His career highlights include his 2016
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
final, two semifinals at the
2014 Wimbledon Championships
The 2014 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 128th edition of the The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon C ...
and
2016 Australian Open
The 2016 Australian Open was a List of tennis tournaments, tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 and 31 January 2016. It was the 104th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tourname ...
, and four
Masters finals. He is the first Canadian man in the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
to reach the Wimbledon final, the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
semifinals, and the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
quarterfinals.
Raonic is frequently described as having one of the best
serves among his contemporaries.
Statistically, Raonic is one of the best servers in the Open Era, winning 91% of
service games to rank (third-most of all time). Aided by his serve, he plays an
all-court style with an emphasis on short points. All his singles titles have been won on
hardcourt
A hardcourt (or hard court) is a type of surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the s ...
s. His overall winning percentage of 68% is one of the highest among currently active players.
Early and personal life
Raonic was born on December 27, 1990, in
Titograd
Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...
,
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
(now
Podgorica
Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...
,
Montenegro
, image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg
, coa_size = 80
, national_motto =
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map = Europe-Mont ...
),
and is of
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...
heritage. Prompted by the
breakup of Yugoslavia
After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...
and
subsequent ethnic conflict, and seeking more professional opportunities, his family moved to Canada in 1994 when he was three, settling in
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...
.
His parents are both engineers;
his father, Dušan, holds a
Ph.D. in electrical engineering,
while his mother, Vesna, has degrees in mechanical and computer engineering, including a
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
.
He has two older siblings: his sister, Jelena, is eleven years older, while his brother, Momir, is nine years older.
Raonic's uncle,
Branimir Gvozdenović, is a politician in the
Government of Montenegro
The government of Montenegro (, Влада Црне Горе) is the executive branch of state authority in Montenegro. It is headed by the Prime Minister of Montenegro, prime minister. It consists of the prime minister, the deputy prime ministe ...
,
where he has served as
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
. Raonic is fluent in Serbian and English.
His first, brief introduction to tennis came at age six or seven with a week-long tennis camp at the Bramalea Tennis Club in Brampton, followed by weekly hour-long group sessions led by tennis coach Steve Gibson, who recognized his potential.
He moved to nearby
Thornhill, Ontario
Thornhill is a suburban district in the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada. The western portion of Thornhill is within the City of Vaughan and its eastern portion is within the City of Markham, Ontario, Markham, with Yonge Street ...
soon after, and one or two years passed before he asked his parents if he could play again.
His father sought out coach Casey Curtis at the Blackmore Tennis Club in neighbouring
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill ( 2021 population: 202,022) is a city in south-central York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and the 27th most populous municipality in Canada. Ric ...
.
Curtis was at first reluctant to take on Raonic, but was convinced after Raonic demonstrated his commitment by working with his father and a
ball machine daily for two months.
Years later, Raonic said he chose tennis because of its "individuality and
ecause hefelt
ecould train more alone and on a ball machine with
isdad".
Raonic and Curtis worked together "twice a day, almost every day, for the next nine years."
Provided that he complete his courses, Raonic was allowed to reduce his hours of attendance at Thornhill Elementary School so that he could practise more, which he did both before and after school.
His parents and siblings supported his tennis, taking turns driving him to practice and tournaments, but did not push him to it or interfere with coaching.
Rather, they emphasized school throughout, insisting that he maintain academic excellence as a prerequisite to playing tennis.
He attended
Thornhill Secondary School,
and accelerated his course load—achieving an 82 percent average—so that he could graduate a year early.
Late in 2007, at the age of 16, Raonic moved to Montreal as one of the first group of players at
Tennis Canada's new
National Tennis Centre, thus marking the end of his formal relationship with Curtis.
Raonic's four favourite sports teams are
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...
, the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
, the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
, and the
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...
.
He played in the
2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game held in Toronto.
He worked for
Rogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globe ...
as an analyst while recovering from injury for their broadcast of the
2011 Canadian Open. In November 2011, Raonic won an exhibition match against his childhood idol,
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...
, which was dubbed "The Face Off."
In 2012, he took up residence in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
,
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
in a 50metre
2 (538sqft) apartment, located minutes away from the
Monte Carlo Country Club—his "home" tennis club and the site of the
Monte-Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters (also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay cour ...
tournament—and
Stade Louis II
The Stade Louis II (, ), or simply Louis II is a stadium located in the Fontvieille district of Monaco, near the border with Cap-d'Ail commune of France. It serves primarily as a venue for Athletics and football, being the home of AS Monaco ...
, which he uses for off-court training. Raonic was in a relationship with Canadian model Danielle Knudson. In April 2022 Raonic married in Italy model Camille Ringoir.
Career
Amateur career
Raonic first competed at a
junior event sanctioned by the
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. there are 211 nat ...
(ITF) in October 2003 at the age of 12.
Milos partnered fellow Canadian Cameron Chiang and made it to the finals of the Benjamin Open in Bordeaux, France. Two years later, in October 2005, he picked up his first singles match victory at age 14.
His first juniors titles in both singles and doubles came at the same
Grade 4 tournament in October 2006. Later that year, he won the Prince Cup doubles title, partnering fellow Canadian
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil ( ; , ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 Wimbledon Champi ...
for the first time at an ITF event. Pospisil and Raonic partnered at four more junior tournaments, including the
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
and the
2008 French Open, reaching the semifinals in the latter.
His most notable titles as a junior were in doubles, winning two Grade 1 events in 2008 partnered with
Bradley Klahn
Bradley Klahn (born August 20, 1990) is an American former professional tennis player from Poway, California.
Klahn played collegiate tennis at Stanford University, where he won the 2010 NCAA Singles Championships as a sophomore. His next year ...
.
Over five years, Raonic compiled a 53–30 win–loss record in singles, and a 56–24 record in doubles on the
ITF Junior Circuit. Except for reaching the semifinals at the 2008 French Open in doubles, Raonic did not advance past the second round of junior Grand Slam events. His career-high
combined junior ranking, which considers both singles and doubles results, was No. 35.
While an amateur, Raonic played in fourteen
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...
tournaments against adults in North America: ten
ITF Futures
The ITF Men's World Tennis Tour (formerly ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The tour represents the lowest rung of the men ...
events at the bottom tier of professional tennis; three
ATP Challenger Tour
The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
events at the middle tier; and one
ATP World Tour event at the top tier.
He played his first professional circuit match in the qualifying draw of an ITF Futures tournament in Toronto in October 2005 at the age of 14; he won his first professional circuit main draw match at an ITF Futures tournament in Gatineau, Quebec, in March 2007 against
Fabrice Martin
Fabrice Martin (; born 11 September 1986) is a French tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each ...
.
With the win, Raonic earned his first world ranking of No. 1518.
He played his first professional circuit doubles match at the same tournament, partnered with Pospisil again.
Raonic lost his first ATP Challenger Tour match in Granby, Quebec, in July 2007 against
Gary Lugassy. Raonic won his first ITF Futures doubles title in Gatineau, Quebec in March 2008, and reached his first ITF Futures singles final two weeks later in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He received a wildcard to the qualifying tournament of the
2008 Canadian Open, but lost in the first round to
Alexander Kudryavtsev. The match was his first in the ATP World Tour.
By the summer of 2008, Raonic had received scholarship offers from several colleges, including the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
,
Princeton, and
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
, and committed to play for the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
that fall while studying
finance
Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...
. Just two weeks before school started, he consulted his parents about his plan to turn professional instead.
Raonic and his parents agreed that he would take correspondence courses in finance from
Athabasca University
Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first Canadian ...
while starting a professional tennis career, setting a deadline of two years for reaching the top100.
During that summer, his world ranking ranged between No. 915 and No. 937.
Raonic reached the top100 in January 2011, around five months later than the target deadline.
He thus turned down the scholarships and turned professional, agreeing to be represented by the
sports agency SFX. University of Virginia men's tennis coach
Brian Boland later commented that "I have only seen two guys turn down scholarships and then succeed quickly on the Tour:
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
and Milos Raonic."
2008–2010: Early professional years
After turning professional in September 2008 until the end of 2010, Raonic played both singles and doubles, primarily at ITF Futures and ATP Challenger tournaments.
He won his first ITF Futures singles title in March 2009 in Montreal. He added three more singles titles and five doubles titles at the ITF Futures level in 2009 and 2010.
He was less successful at the ATP Challenger level, tallying only one title.
In his fourth tournament after turning professional, Raonic won the doubles title at the
Men's Rimouski Challenger in November 2008, partnered with Pospisil.
At the ATP World Tour level, Raonic gained entry into few tournaments, compiling a main draw record of three wins and five losses over nearly two and half years.
In 2009, Raonic again received a wildcard for the qualifying tournament of the
Canadian Open. This time, he beat No. 77
Teymuraz Gabashvili
Teymuraz Besikovich Gabashvili ( rus, Теймураз Бесикович Габашвили, , tɛɪ̯mʊˈraz ɡəbɐˈʂvʲilʲɪ; born 23 May 1985) is a Russian-Georgian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of Wo ...
and No. 113
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...
to qualify for the main draw of an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time. In the first round, he held a
match point, but lost to No. 10
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
in three sets.
The matches against Gabashvili and González were the first singles matches for Raonic against a top100 player and top10 player, respectively.
A year later, at the
2010 Canadian Open, Raonic and Pospisil were given a doubles wildcard to the main draw, marking Raonic's first ever ATP World Tour doubles match.
They won their first round match against
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
and
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
. It was first time that the world Nos. 1 and 2 had played together in a tour doubles match since
Jimmy Connors
James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 2 ...
and
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...
did so in 1976.
In the second round, Raonic and Pospisil lost to reigning
Wimbledon doubles champions
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
and
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner (born 24 March 1984) is a retired German professional tennis player. He was known for his hard-hitting forehand and backhand slices. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 9, which he achieved in April 2011.
Car ...
. After the match, Raonic said: "Our goal here is pretty much as ambassadors to Canada. The more players that we can get to come, the more people we can get going to take tennis lessons."
Less than a month later, Raonic gained entry into a
Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the
2010 US Open. He
qualified for the main draw, but lost in the first round to
Carsten Ball.
Raonic's first ATP main draw singles victory came in September 2010 at the
Malaysian Open against No. 105
Igor Kunitsyn. He followed this with a second round victory over No. 31
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky (, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger level from 2005 to 2008. His career-high rankings were World No ...
. The following week, Raonic lost in the second round of the
2010 Japan Open to No. 1 Nadal.
This marked his first singles match against a player ranked No. 1,
and his first singles match against a member of the
Big Four—a quartet of dominant tennis players including Nadal, Djokovic,
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
, and
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
.

Raonic's coaching relationship evolved during his early professional years. Since late 2007, Raonic had been working with Tennis Canada coaches—including
Guillaume Marx, Head Boys National Coach
—based out of the National Training Centre at
Jarry Park in Montreal.
In November 2009, with Raonic's world ranking at No. 377, Tennis Canada hired recently retired former player
Frédéric Niemeyer
Frédéric Niemeyer (born April 24, 1976) is a Canadian retired, professional tennis player and was tennis coach at Tennis Canada for 10 years and he is now a freelance Tennis Consultant and Coach.
Career
Niemeyer reached a career-high ATP s ...
to coach Raonic and travel with him for 18 weeks during the 2010 season.
Toward the end of 2010, however, Niemeyer decided to travel less owing to "family considerations." As a result, Tennis Canada arranged for a two-week trial period with former No. 40
Galo Blanco in co-operation with Niemeyer, including tournaments in Malaysia and Japan in late September and early October.
Over this period, Raonic climbed from No. 237 to No. 155.
Tennis Canada hired Blanco, and Raonic moved to
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
to train with Blanco and trainer Tony Estalella. Commenting on the training regiment, Blanco said "the off-season Milos had this winter in Barcelona was amazing. We never saw anything like that before, working the way he worked for six weeks."
2011: Top 25 and first ATP Tour title
The first two months of 2011 represented a significant breakthrough for Raonic, as he rose from No. 156 at the beginning of January to No. 37 by the end of February.
In doing so, he became the highest-ranked Canadian male ever. He began this climb by
qualifying for the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
main draw. His first round victory over
Björn Phau marked his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam match. In the second round, he defeated No. 22 seed Llodra, becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament. With his career-first victory over a top10 player (
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Associ ...
) in the third round,
he became the first qualifier to make the fourth round of a major since
Marcelo Filippini at the
1999 French Open.

Despite losing in the fourth round to No. 7
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
, Raonic received rave reviews for his Australian Open performance.
Patrick McEnroe
Patrick William McEnroe (born July 1, 1966) is an American former professional tennis player, broadcaster, and former captain of the United States Davis Cup team.
Born in Manhasset, New York, he is John McEnroe's youngest brother. He won one ...
said "Raonic
sthe real deal".
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
referred to Raonic as part of "a new generation".
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...
referred to Raonic as "a new star" saying that "the sky is the limit".
''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' referred to Raonic as a "future superstar".
Two weeks later, Raonic won his first ATP title at the
Pacific Coast Championships, with victories over No. 45
Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. Born in the north-western Flemish Region, Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David G ...
, No. 170
James Blake, No. 74
Ričardas Berankis
Ričardas Berankis (; born June 21, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional tennis player. He is the first and only Lithuanian to enter the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP top 50 rankings, making him the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis play ...
, and No. 9
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spaniards, Spanish tennis coach and a former professional player. He was ranked world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, achieved in April 2009, and w ...
.
With the victory, he became the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP title,
and the youngest winner since
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
won the
2008 Connecticut Open at age 19. Raonic's victory was the first ATP title by a Canadian since
Greg Rusedski
Gregory Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a Canadian-British former professional tennis player. He was the British No. 1 in 1997, 1999 and 2006, and reached the ATP Tour, ATP ranking of world No. 4 for periods from 6 October 1997 to 12 October ...
in 1995.
The following week, Raonic reached the final of an
ATP 500 tournament for the first time at the
U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships.
He defeated Verdasco for the second time in three days in the first round,
and No. 17
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
Fish won six tournaments on the ...
in the semifinal.
In the final, he lost in three sets to No. 8 Roddick, with Roddick making a diving forehand to break serve for the match on his fifth championship point. Roddick stated: "That's the best shot I've ever hit in my life, considering the circumstance."
With his improved ranking (No. 37), Raonic earned direct entry to Grand Slam tournaments and other ATP World Tour events for the first time.
He reached the third round at both the
Indian Wells Masters and the
Monte-Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters (also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay cour ...
. In May, Raonic rose to a new career-high ranking of No. 25.
He was seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam event at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, but lost in the first round to
Michael Berrer
Michael Berrer (born 1 July 1980) is a German retired professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 in May 2010.
Career
2010
He reached the quarterfinal at the Aircel Chennai Open in January, losing to ...
. At the
Halle Open
The Halle Open (known as the Terra Wortmann Open for sponsorship reasons) is a men's tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1993, the event is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP Tou ...
, Raonic reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final, partnered with
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
. The pair lost to
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Machanda Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles.
He attained the List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 ranking after winning his first Grand Slam (tenni ...
and
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi ( Punjabi, ; born 17 Mar 1980) is a Pakistani professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He is the only Pakistani player ever to reach a Grand Slam final, having done so in both men's and mixed doubles at the ...
in the deciding
super tiebreak.
During his second round singles match at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
against
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a Luxembourgish former professional tennis player. He is a two-time major singles quarterfinalist, making him by far the most successful male tennis player in Luxembourgish history. Müller won two titles on ...
, Raonic retired with an early lead after injuring his right hip when he slipped and fell on the grass. He underwent hip surgery which prevented him from competing until September. His only significant result in the latter half of 2011 after returning from injury was a semifinal appearance at the
Stockholm Open
Stockholm Open (SO) is an annual tennis tournament in Sweden that is part of the ATP Tour's 250 Series. The tournament features both men's singles and doubles events and is organized by the Royal Lawn Tennis Club (KLTK), Stockholms Allmä ...
, where he lost to
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in November 2016. Mon ...
.
2012: Continued rise and first title defence
Raonic began 2012 with titles in two of his first three tournaments, starting with his second ATP title at the
Chennai Open in India. He had back-to-back wins over top10 players at a tournament for the first time, beating
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player of Latin American descent. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008 French Open – Men's singles, 2008, 201 ...
in the semifinals and
Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarević ( sr-Cyrl, Јанко Типсаревић, ; born 22 June 1984) is a Serbian tennis coach and former professional player. He is also a politician, serving as a member of the City Assembly of Belgrade since 21 June 2024. He is ...
in the final.
Raonic
held serve during the entire tournament, becoming the first player to do so since Federer at the
2008 Halle Open. He lost in the third round of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
to
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
. In February, Raonic defended his title at the
Pacific Coast Championships, defeating
Denis Istomin in the final for his third ATP title.
The following week in Memphis, Raonic reached the final of the
U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships for the second straight year, but lost to Melzer.
In the spring, Raonic played his first three matches against No. 3 Federer on three different surfaces: hard court in the third round of the
Indian Wells Masters; clay in the second round at the
Madrid Open; and grass in the quarterfinals at the
Halle Open
The Halle Open (known as the Terra Wortmann Open for sponsorship reasons) is a men's tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1993, the event is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP Tou ...
.
On each occasion, Raonic won the first set before losing the next two. After the Halle Open match, Federer remarked: "I am happy to have beaten him now because by the end of my career, he'll be serving at 300km/h." He defeated No. 4 Murray in straight sets in the quarterfinals at the
Barcelona Open. This marked his first victory over a member of the Big Four.
In the semifinal, he lost to No. 6 Ferrer. Raonic lost to
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Singles, 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Sony ...
in the third round of the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, and followed this with a second round loss to Querrey at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
.
Raonic reached his first
ATP 1000 quarterfinals at back-to-back events in August, losing to
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
at the
Canadian Open and
Stan Wawrinka
Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...
at the
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
. His loss to Wawrinka followed his victory over No. 7
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
, his fourth top10 victory of the year.
On August 13, his world ranking was No. 19, marking his first time in the top20.
At the
US Open, Raonic lost in the fourth round to eventual champion Murray. Raonic was the first Canadian male to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Laurendeau in 1988. In October at the
Japan Open, Raonic reached his third ATP 500 final, defeating
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
,
Viktor Troicki, Tipsarević, and Murray, before dropping the final to Japan's
Kei Nishikori
is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
in three sets.
His victories over Tipsarević and Murray marked the third time he won back-to-back matches against top10 players.
In 2012, Raonic led the ATP in points won on 1st serve (82%) and in service games won (93%). He finished the year at a career high singles ranking of No. 13.
His six victories over top10 players in 2012, including two over Murray, marks a career-high.
2013: Top 10 ranking and first Masters 1000 final
In all four 2013 Grand Slam tournaments, Raonic matched his previous best result.
He reached the fourth round of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, falling to No. 2 Federer. At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, he lost in the third round to
Kevin Anderson. At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, he lost in the second round to
Igor Sijsling
Igor Sijsling (; born 18 August 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. Sijsling reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 on 17 February 2014. His biggest accomplishment is reaching the final of 2013 Australian Open – M ...
. At the
US Open, he fell to No. 9
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
in the fourth round in a five-set thriller, despite a career-high 39 aces.
Raonic again achieved success at
ATP 250
The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam (t ...
and ATP 500 events. In February, Raonic earned his third consecutive title at the
Pacific Coast Championships, defeating
Tommy Haas
Thomas Mario Haas (; born 3 April 1978) is a German–American former professional tennis player. He competed on the ATP Tour from 1996 to 2017, and was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in May ...
in the final. Over three years, he achieved a perfect 12–0 match record, and did not drop a single set. He is the only man in the Open Era to win three consecutive singles titles at this event.
In September, he won the
Thailand Open tournament, defeating No. 9 Gasquet in the semifinals and No. 6 Berdych in the final. The titles were Raonic's fourth and fifth, both coming in ATP 250 events like previous titles.
In October, Raonic reached the
Japan Open final for the second consecutive year, but lost a close match to No. 7
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22 ATP Tour-level sing ...
. It marked his fourth consecutive loss in the final of an ATP 500 event.
In eight of the nine ATP 1000 events, Raonic matched or improved on his career-best performance.
This included his first ATP 1000 series final at the
Canadian Open in August. During his third round victory over del Potro, Raonic was awarded a point even though his foot touched the net. He did not report his error to the umpire, and won the last nine points to close out the match. Raonic later admitted that he was wrong not to admit his error at the time: "I made a mistake in the spur of the moment ... I'm disappointed with myself, how I dealt with it." After beating
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 20 ...
in the quarterfinals, Raonic defeated compatriot Pospisil in the semifinals. The match against Pospisil was the first all-Canadian semifinal in an ATP 1000 tournament.
In the final, he lost to Nadal in just 68 minutes.
Following the tournament, Raonic was ranked No. 10, becoming the first Canadian player and the first player born in the 1990s to break into the top10.
In 2013, Raonic again led the ATP in points won on first serve (82%) and in service games won (91%). He had 45 match victories for the second consecutive year.
His coaching team underwent significant changes in 2013. In May, Raonic split with his coach of two and half years, Blanco. Less than a month later, Raonic hired former No. 3 tennis player
Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player, coach and Tennis TV commentator. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career high ...
as his coach. In December, he hired
Riccardo Piatti as a co-coach with Ljubičić.
2014: First Grand Slam semifinal
Raonic opened 2014 by reaching the third round of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, losing to
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov Dimitrov (, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Bulgari ...
.
He sustained an ankle injury that kept him out of action for six weeks.

From March through May, Raonic improved on his career-best performance at five consecutive ATP 1000 events.
At the
Indian Wells Masters, he beat No. 6 Murray to reach the quarterfinals, losing to
Alexandr Dolgopolov
Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the qu ...
. He lost in the quarterfinals of the
Miami Masters to Nadal. He reached the quarterfinals for the third ATP 1000 tournament in a row at the
Monte-Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters (also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay cour ...
, before falling to Wawrinka. The result garnered Raonic a career-high ranking as world No. 9.
Raonic lost in the third round of the
Madrid Open to Nishikori. At the
Italian Open, Raonic defeated
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
in the quarterfinals to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal on clay. After winning the first set, he lost his semifinal match to eventual champion Djokovic. Although he had played Djokovic in the 2013 Davis Cup, this was their first ATP match against one another.
At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Raonic was seeded in the top eight for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. He notched victories against
Nick Kyrgios
Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. Kyrgios has been ranked as high as world No. 13 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won se ...
,
Jiří Veselý
Jiří Veselý (; born 10 July 1993) is a Czech professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 35 on 27 April 2015.
Youth career
Veselý reached the No. 1 junior combined world ranking in January 2011, co ...
,
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009.
Personal li ...
, and
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the second Spanish man to achieve the feat (after Emilio Sánchez Vicari ...
to reach the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in his career, becoming the first Canadian man to do so in the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
. He lost in the quarterfinals to Djokovic in straight sets. After the match, Raonic commented: "I've gone farther in a Slam than I have before and I've learned things even from this loss."
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, Raonic was again seeded eighth. He defeated
Matthew Ebden
Matthew Ebden (born 26 November 1987) is an Australian professional tennis player who reached a career high of List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles.
Ebden is a three-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ch ...
,
Jack Sock
Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American former professional tennis doubles and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 ...
,
Łukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a former Polish professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the ...
, Nishikori, and Kyrgios to reach his first major semifinal. He became the first Canadian men's singles player to reach the semifinals at a major since
Robert Powell
Robert Thomas Powell ( ; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in '' Mahler'' (1974) and '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) ...
in 1908.
In the quarterfinal victory against Kyrgios, Raonic tied a career-high with 39 aces. In the semifinals, Raonic lost to Federer in straight sets.
After the match, Raonic reflected: "There's a lot of good things to take from it. ... But when you get here to this point, I think it's just human nature, the greed of human nature, that you want so much more. You feel it in front of you and you want to grab it." Despite the loss, Raonic saw his world ranking improve to a career-high No. 6.
In his next tournament, Raonic reached his first final of the year at the
Washington Open, facing Pospisil in the first all-Canadian final in ATP history.
Raonic won the title in straight sets. It was his first ATP 500 title, after finishing as runner-up in four previous ATP 500 tournaments.
After reaching the quarterfinals at the
Canadian Open and the semifinals at the
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
, he claimed the men's
2014 US Open Series.
At the
US Open, Raonic was seeded fifth. He won his first three matches to face rival Nishikori in the fourth round. On the morning of September 2, Raonic and Nishikori tied the all-time latest finish for a match at the
US Open, ending at 2:26 a.m. This tied previous matches between
Mats Wilander
Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
and
Mikael Pernfors
Mikael Pernfors (; born 16 July 1963) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1986, and won the 1993 Canadian Open in Montreal.
Career
Pernfors played a topspin-heavy basel ...
in 1993, and between Isner and
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
in 2012. The five set match lasted 4 hours and 19 minutes, with Raonic losing and Nishikori advancing to the quarterfinals.
In October, Raonic reached the final of the
Japan Open for the third consecutive year, but lost to Nishikori again.
Three years prior, in 2011, Raonic had set a personal goal of reaching the year-end
ATP Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant tennis event in the men's annual calendar after the four majors, as it features the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams based on their ...
, where only the top eight players earned a spot.
Heading into the last ATP 1000 event of 2014, the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
, Raonic trailed Ferrer for the eighth spot, and needed a deep run to surpass him.
He beat Sock and
Roberto Bautista Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP in singles, achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista Agut ...
to set up a quarterfinals match against No. 2 Federer, who had beaten him in all six previous meetings.
Needing a win to avoid being eliminated from contention for the ATP Finals, Raonic won in straight sets. His victory was hailed as "a career-defining win."
In the post-match interview, Raonic was asked to rank this victory in his career. He replied: "Considering all the circumstances around it, I think this was the biggest win for me." He went on to beat No. 5 Berdych in the semifinals to earn a spot in the second ATP 1000 final of his career.
He lost to Djokovic in the final, but secured his place in the
2014 ATP Finals.
He is the first Canadian to reach the ATP Finals,
and the first player born in the 1990s to do so.
Anticlimactically, Raonic withdrew from the tournament due to a leg-muscle tear prior to his match against Nishikori, after losses to Federer and Murray.
Raonic ended the year at a career-high season-ending ranking of No. 8.
He was one of just three players to reach the quarterfinals or better at seven of the nine ATP 1000 tournaments. Raonic finished with a career-high total of 1107 aces in 2014. At the time, this was the fifth highest single-year ace total in history. (It was surpassed by both
Ivo Karlović
Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint-tallest ranked tennis player in history (along with Reilly Opelka). He won eight ATP Tour si ...
and Isner in 2015.)
2015: Top 4 ranking and injury woes
Raonic began 2015 by reaching the final at the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
after defeating No. 5 Nishikori in three sets, all decided in
tiebreaks.
He lost to No. 2 Federer in three sets, with Federer recording his 1,000th match win on the professional tour. Later in the month, he reached the quarterfinals of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
after beating No. 12
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
. He lost to Djokovic in straight sets.
At the
Indian Wells Masters, Raonic won his quarterfinal match against No. 3 Nadal, after saving three match points from Nadal in the second set tiebreak. It was Raonic's first career victory over Nadal after five defeats.
He lost to Federer in the semifinals.
In April, Raonic opened the
Monte-Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters (also known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, which borders on Monaco. It is played on clay cour ...
with a victory over
João Sousa
João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (), is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of No. 28 on 16 May 2016 a ...
. Just one game into his second-round match against
Tommy Robredo
Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
, Raonic called for a medical timeout due to a right foot injury. Although he went on to win the match, Raonic's manager indicated that Raonic had made a pre-existing injury worse by playing. In his quarterfinal match against Berdych, he complained of numbness in his right foot during a medical timeout, and retired while trailing 2–5 in the opening set.
It was diagnosed as a pinched nerve, and Raonic was expected to be healthy for the
Madrid Open.
In Madrid, Raonic advanced to the quarterfinals with straight sets victories over Mónaco and
Leonardo Mayer. After Raonic lost in the quarterfinals against Murray, Murray observed that Raonic was "struggling
ith injury" Following the match, Raonic announced that he would undergo surgery to repair a nerve in his foot, targeting a return in time for the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. Ironically, Raonic's world ranking reached a new career-high of No. 4 the following week, the highest by a Canadian man or woman.
Following surgery, Raonic withdrew from the
Italian Open and the French Open. He returned in time for the grass court season. Having played in Halle in previous years, Raonic elected to play at the
Queen's Club Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for men's and women’s tennis, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals, ...
for the first time. Raonic lost in the quarterfinals in his Queen's debut, and lost in the third round at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
.
After his Wimbledon loss to Kyrgios, Raonic commented that his foot injury had led to problems throughout his body: "There wasn't a place it wasn't
othering me.. First ankle, then the hip, and then the back. Then when those things aren't working, you just put too much pressure on your shoulder, and then your shoulder hurts." The cascading injuries led to a withdrawal from
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
's
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
tie against
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
;
a withdrawal from the
Washington Open, where Raonic was the defending champion; first round losses at the
Canadian Open and
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
; and a third round loss at the
US Open to López.
In September, at the
St. Petersburg Open, Raonic won his seventh singles title—and first in Europe—with a three-set victory over Sousa. His serve was broken just once in the entire tournament. After early losses at the
China Open and
Shanghai Masters, Raonic ended his ATP season by withdrawing from three consecutive tournaments, citing injury. On November 2, he fell outside the top10, dropping to No. 14.
After six weeks off, Raonic joined the
Philippine Mavericks of the exhibition
International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in December. After four matches, he withdrew due to back spasms.
In late November, Raonic parted ways with both Ljubičić, who had been his coach since June 2013, and Austin Nunn, who had been his media manager for nearly four years. Ljubičić was added to Federer's coaching team two weeks later. Raonic contacted former No. 1 tennis player
Carlos Moyá
Carlos Moyá Llompart (; born 27 August 1976) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Moyá won 20 ATP Tour-level singles tit ...
about a coaching relationship, and they trained together and had discussions during the IPTL events.
The relationship was subsequently formalized and on January 1, 2016, Raonic announced that Moyá would join his coaching team alongside Piatti. Raonic said that he chose Moyá for three reasons: "Carlos is very laid back and positive
.. andhe communicates well."
2016: First Grand Slam final and top 3 ranking

Raonic reached the final of the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
against No. 3 Federer in a rematch of their 2015 final. This time, Raonic upset Federer in straight sets, winning his eighth career title. Asked to talk about Raonic after the match, Federer observed: "
r a big guy he moves well ... He's improved his fitness the last few years. Also, tactically, I think he's better now than he's ever been. He's made a conscious effort of playing close to the baseline, which before when he was working with the Spanish coaches he was way back."
In the fourth round of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, he upset No. 4 Wawrinka in five sets, beating the 2014 champion for the first time in five meetings.
He then beat Monfils in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. He became the first Canadian man to reach the Australian Open semifinals. In the semifinals, he lost to No. 2 Murray in five sets, sustaining an
adductor injury while leading two sets to one. After the match, he reflected that the loss was "probably the most heartbroken
e hasfelt on court."
The adductor injury kept Raonic out of competition for six weeks, during which he withdrew from the
Delray Beach Open and the
Mexican Open, and Canada's Davis Cup clash with
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
He returned to action at the
Indian Wells Masters, reaching the final against No. 1 Djokovic with a string of four victories over top20 opponents:
Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tomic has won four singles titles on the ATP To ...
, Berdych, Monfils, and
David Goffin
David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...
.
In the semifinal victory over Goffin, Raonic's average second serve (112 mph) was faster than Goffin's average first serve (110 mph).
Before the final, Djokovic said: "Milos is probably playing the best tennis that he has ever played. His serve was phenomenal before the start of this season, but it seems like he has improved even more, especially the second serve. He's going for it more. He's not giving you the same look."
Raonic lost a lopsided straight sets match to Djokovic in the final, his third consecutive loss in an ATP 1000 final.
Raonic followed Indian Wells by reaching the quarterfinals at the next three ATP 1000 events in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, and
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, eventually losing to Kyrgios, Murray, and Djokovic, respectively.
On May 2, he re-entered the top10 at No. 10.
Raonic continued the clay court season with a second-round loss at the
Italian Open to Kyrgios.
At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, he was the eighth seed, but fell in the fourth round in straight sets to No. 55
Albert Ramos Viñolas
Albert Ramos Viñolas (; born 17 January 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in May 2017 after reaching the final of the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters.
Career
Juniors
R ...
. During the French Open, former No. 1 and three-time Wimbledon champion
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
announced that he would join Raonic's team as a consultant for the grass court season. Commenting on McEnroe joining Moyá and Piatti on his coaching team, Raonic said: "I was sort of just looking for another set of eyes to be a bit more efficient on grass" and he said it was about "generally improving." McEnroe left Raonic's team in August.
Raonic began the grass court season by advancing to his first grass court final at the
Queen's Club Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for men's and women’s tennis, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals, ...
without dropping serve in victories over Kyrgios, Veselý, Bautista Agut, and Tomic, but lost the final in three sets to Murray.
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, Raonic won his first three matches in straight sets against
Pablo Carreño Busta
Pablo Carreño Busta (; born 12 July 1991) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 by the ATP, which he first achieved on 11 September 2017. He also reached a best doubles ranking of No. 16 on 17 July ...
,
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Personal lif ...
, and Sock.
In the fourth round against Goffin, Raonic came back from a two set deficit to win in five sets for the first time in his career. In ten previous best-of-five matches where he lost the first two sets, he also lost the third set. Raonic then beat Querrey in the quarterfinals and Federer in the semifinals, marking Federer's first defeat in 11 Wimbledon semifinals.
With the victory, Raonic reached his first Grand Slam final, matching Greg Rusedski. In the final, he lost to Murray in straight sets, though he made the fastest serve of the tournament at .
With the transition to hard courts after Wimbledon, Raonic made the quarterfinals of the
Canadian Open, losing to Monfils, before falling to Murray for the fifth time in 2016 in the
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
semifinal. Raonic was the fifth seed at the
US Open, but lost in the second round to
Ryan Harrison
Ryan Harrison (born May 7, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Harrison won one career Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP title in singles at the 2017 Memphis Open to go along with four in doubles, including the 2017 F ...
, partly due to debilitating cramps. In September, cramps were cited as the reason for Raonic to miss Canada's Davis Cup tie against
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
.
Later that month, Raonic failed to defend his title at the
St. Petersburg Open, falling in his opening match to Youzhny. Raonic withdrew from the
China Open prior to his semifinal match due to an ankle injury sustained in the quarterfinal. With the result, Raonic qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals for the second time. Raonic suffered another injury, a quadriceps tear, during his quarterfinal match against
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
at the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
and withdrew before his scheduled semifinal against Murray.
At the
ATP World Tour Finals, Raonic lost to Djokovic, but beat Monfils and Thiem in round robin play to qualify for his first Tour Finals semifinal. He lost the semifinal match to Murray in 3 hours and 38 minutes, the longest match on the ATP Tour in 2016 and the longest match in World Tour Finals history.
Raonic rose to a career-high No. 3, finishing the year behind only Murray and Djokovic.
In December, he ended his coaching relationship with Moya, and added former Wimbledon champion
Richard Krajicek
Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (; born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player and tournament director. Krajicek won 17 singles titles during his career, including the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first (an ...
to his coaching staff alongside Piatti for the 2017 season.
2017: More injuries and out of top 20
At his first tournament of the season, the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
, Raonic reached the semifinals with wins over
Diego Schwartzman
Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist ...
and
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the first two rounds. He lost to
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov Dimitrov (, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Bulgari ...
in straight sets. At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, he won his first two matches in straight sets respectively over
Dustin Brown and
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a Luxembourgish former professional tennis player. He is a two-time major singles quarterfinalist, making him by far the most successful male tennis player in Luxembourgish history. Müller won two titles on ...
. In the third and fourth rounds, he defeated
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009.
Personal li ...
and then
Roberto Bautista Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP in singles, achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista Agut ...
both in four sets. Though Raonic failed to get past eventual finalist
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the quarterfinals, this result marked the third year in a row that Milos made at least the quarterfinals at this tournament. At his next tournament in February, he reached the final in
Delray Beach, giving
Jack Sock
Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American former professional tennis doubles and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 ...
a walkover in the final due to a hamstring tear in his right leg.
Returning from injury at the
Miami Open in March, Raonic defeated
Viktor Troicki in his opening round but had to withdraw from his next match against qualifier
Jared Donaldson, again with the hamstring injury. In May, Raonic advanced to his second final of the season, losing to
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. He lost in the fourth round of the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
to
Pablo Carreño Busta
Pablo Carreño Busta (; born 12 July 1991) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 by the ATP, which he first achieved on 11 September 2017. He also reached a best doubles ranking of No. 16 on 17 July ...
in a five-set marathon. At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, he made it to the quarterfinals but was defeated by
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in straight sets. After his run at Wimbledon, he only played two more tournaments, losing in the quarterfinals in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
to
Jack Sock
Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American former professional tennis doubles and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 ...
and in the second round in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
to
Adrian Mannarino
Adrian Mannarino (born 29 June 1988) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, attained on 29 January 2024. He has won five ATP Tour singles titles, three on hardcourt and two on grass.
Te ...
. He then had to withdraw from various tournaments, including the
US Open, due to injury. Raonic returned in October at the
Japan Open but had to retire in his second round match against
Yūichi Sugita
is a Japanese former professional tennis player. He has won one ATP singles title, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 36 on 9 October 2017.
Career
Juniors
As a junior Sugita compiled a win–loss record of 34–19 (and 26 ...
again with an injury. Although he reached two finals in 2017, it was the first time since 2011 that he failed to win at least one title.
2018: Return to top 20
After ending his 2017 season early, Raonic dropped to No. 24. He began his season at the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
as the fourth seed. He lost in the second round to
Alex de Minaur
Alex de Minaur Román (born 17 February 1999) is an Australian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of No. 6 on 15 July 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 58 on 12 October ...
in straight sets. Raonic then went on to compete at the
2018 Australian Open
The 2018 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played at Melbourne Park between 15 and 28 January 2018, and was the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2018 season. The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles, double ...
, where he lost in the opening round to
Lukáš Lacko
Lukáš Lacko (; born 3 November 1987) is a former professional Slovak tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is World No. 44, achieved in January 2013.
Tennis career Juniors
As a junior Lacko compiled a singles win–loss record ...
in four sets. This was Raonic's second time overall that he lost in the first round of a Grand Slam and the first time since the
2011 French Open. This also meant that he would fall out of the top 30 for the first time since February 2011.
Raonic's next tournament was the
Delray Beach Open. He easily beat
Taro Daniel
is an American-Japanese professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 58 on 15 January 2024. He has won one ATP Tour singles title at the 2018 Istanbul Open, as well as nine ATP Challenger Tour singles ti ...
in the first round but went on to lose to
Steve Johnson in straight sets in the next round. At
Indian Wells, Raonic reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal since November 2016 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
with wins over compatriot
Félix Auger-Aliassime
Felix Auger-Aliassime (; born August 8, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of No. 6, which he achieved on November 7, 2022, making him the second-highest-ranked Canadian man in ATP rankings histor ...
,
João Sousa
João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (), is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of No. 28 on 16 May 2016 a ...
,
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
by walkover and
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
, respectively in the first rounds. He was defeated by
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22 ATP Tour-level sing ...
in straight sets. The next week at the
Miami Open, Raonic advanced to the quarterfinals but lost for the second week in a row to del Potro, this time in three close sets. He did not compete at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
because of a knee injury. In June at the
Stuttgart Open, he advanced to his first final in over a year, but was defeated by world No. 2
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
.
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, he advanced to the quarterfinals, but lost to
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
.
2019: Fourth Australian Open quarterfinal
Raonic was seeded 16th at the
2019 Australian Open. He defeated
Nick Kyrgios
Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. Kyrgios has been ranked as high as world No. 13 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won se ...
in the first round in straight sets and narrowly defeated 2014 champion
Stan Wawrinka
Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved on 27 January 2014. Wawrinka has won 16 ATP T ...
in four close tiebreak sets in the second round. In the third, he defeated
Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (; born 18 March 1991) is a French professional tennis player. In doubles, he has completed the Grand Slam (tennis)#Career Grand Slam, Career Grand Slam with titles at the 2015 US Open – Men's doubles, 2015 US Open, the 20 ...
. In the fourth round, he faced fourth seed
Alexander Zverev
Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player and the current world No. 3. He has won 24 ATP Tour titles in singles and two in doubles, and has been runner-up at three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, ma ...
. He started the match dominantly, winning 12 of the first 14 games to take a two-set lead. Zverev played a competitive third set, but Raonic ultimately won in a tiebreak. In the quarterfinals, he lost to 28th seed
Lucas Pouille
Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
in four sets.
He announced his split with coach
Goran Ivanišević
Goran Ivanišević (; born 13 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 1994. Ivanišević won 22 ATP To ...
, and will now be coached by French former ATP player
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro (; born 9 December 1972) is a French former professional tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming towards the end of his ca ...
.
2020: Fifth Australian Open quarterfinal, Fourth Masters 1000 final
Raonic started his 2020 at the
Qatar Open in Doha where he was seeded 4th. However, in his first match he lost to
Corentin Moutet
Corentin Moutet (; born 19 April 1999) is a French professional tennis player. Moutet has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 51, attained on 7 November 2022. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 425, attained on ...
in straight sets. Raonic then participated in
2020 Australian Open, where he defeated
Lorenzo Giustino
Lorenzo Giustino (; born 10 September 1991, in Naples) is an Italians, Italian tennis player.
Giustino has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of 127 achieved on 12 August 2019 and a career-high ATP doubles ran ...
,
Cristian Garín
Cristian Ignacio Garín Medone (; born 30 May 1996) is a Chilean professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 17 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP in singles, achieved on 13 September 2021. He ...
,
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas (, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved in August 2021 – mak ...
and
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
before losing to
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
at the quarter-final stage in straight sets. In February 2020, Raonic participated in
New York Open where he was seeded second, but he lost to
Soonwoo Kwon in his first match at the tournament.
Days later, he took part in
Delray Beach Open and defeated
Denis Istomin,
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (; born 9 October 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 71 in February 2012.
Career 2011: Grand Slam and Top 100 debuts
He reached his first ATP World Tour quart ...
,
Steve Johnson before losing his semi-final match to
Reilly Opelka
Reilly Opelka (born 28 August 1997) is an American professional tennis player. At , he is tied (with Ivo Karlović) for the tallest-ever Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP-ranked player, and can produce serves that measure over . He has be ...
.
Raonic found form at the
2020 Cincinnati Masters, where he defeated
Sam Querrey
Samuel Austin Querrey ( ; born October 7, 1987) is an American professional pickleball player and former tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known ...
,
Daniel Evans, and a resurgent
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
, all in straight sets. In the quarterfinal stage, he recovered from a set and a break down, and saved a match point to defeat
Filip Krajinović
Filip Krajinović (, ; born 27 February 1992) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26 on 23 April 2018. in their quarterfinal encounter. He defeated 4th seed
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas (, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved in August 2021 – mak ...
in straight sets to reach his fourth
Masters 1000 final. He lost to
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
in 3 sets in the final.
At the
US Open, he lost in the second round to countryman,
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil ( ; , ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 Wimbledon Champi ...
.
After a semifinal appearance at the
St. Petersburg Open, Raonic would end his year with another semifinal appearance at the
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters (formerly known as the Paris Open, and currently called the Rolex Paris Masters for sponsorship reasons) is an annual indoor tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France at the Accor Arena, in the neighb ...
where he lost to 3rd seed and eventual champion
Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev ( rus, Даниил Сергеевич Медведев, p=dənʲɪˈil sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ...
in straight sets.
2021: ATP Cup debut, injuries and hiatus
Raonic opened his 2021 campaign at the
2021 ATP Cup representing team Canada alongside countrymen
Denis Shapovalov
Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...
,
Steven Diez and
Peter Polansky
Peter Polansky ( ; born June 15, 1988) is a Canadian professional tennis player of Czech origin. He was Canada's top singles player from June 21, 2010, until January 17, 2011, in the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP rankings. He was also ...
. Canada was drawn into a round robin group with teams
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
and
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, and Raonic was penciled in as the number 2 player. In the first tie against team Serbia, Raonic won his singles match in straight sets over
Dušan Lajović
Dušan Lajović ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Лајовић; born 30 June 1990) is a Serbian professional tennis player. On 29 April 2019, he reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 23. On 21 September 2020, he peaked at No. 82 in the doubl ...
. Partnering with Shapovalov in the deciding doubles match, they were unable to get the win and thus lost the tie 2–1. In the second tie, versus team Germany, Raonic lost his singles match against
Jan-Lennard Struff
Jan-Lennard Struff (; born 25 April 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles and doubles rankings of world No. 21 on 19 June 2023 and on 22 October 2018 respectively. ...
in two tiebreaker sets, and after Shapovalov lost his match against Zverev, Canada was officially eliminated from the tournament.
At the
2021 Australian Open
The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. It was the 109th edition of the Australian Open, the 53rd in the Open Era, and the first Major tournament of the year. It w ...
, he lost in the fourth round to eventual champion
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
.
Raonic struggled with calf and right leg injuries for most of the year. After losing in the fourth round at the
2021 Miami Masters to eventual champion
Hubert Hurkacz
Hubert Hurkacz (; born 11 February 1997) is a Polish professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Polish man in singl ...
in three sets, he took a hiatus that lasted for three months and returned at the
2021 Atlanta Open in July. As the top seed, he lost in his opening match against eventual finalist
Brandon Nakashima in three sets. After the loss, he took another hiatus due to his injuries.
2023: Comeback for grass season after two years
According to his coach Mario Tudor, Raonic planned on returning to the tour in 2023. In May, news came that he would participate in the grass court season.
In June, he entered the
2023 Libéma Open using his protected ranking and won his first match back, defeating fifth seed
Miomir Kecmanović in straight sets.
He won his first Major match since 2021 at the
2023 Wimbledon Championships
The 2023 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom.
Tournament
The tournament was played on grass courts, wi ...
defeating
Dennis Novak. He lost to
Tommy Paul in the second round. As a result, he moved more than 300 positions up, close to the top 500 in the rankings.
He stated that this might be his last Wimbledon. He further added he expected to play the
Canadian Open in Toronto and then the
US Open before retiring. In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, he reached the third round, losing to
Mackenzie McDonald
Michael Mackenzie Lowe McDonald (born April 16, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 37, achieved on October 16, 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 49, achieved on Octobe ...
. In November 2023, Raonic competed for
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
at the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
for the first time since 2018. He beat Patrick Kaukovalta in straight sets, but Canada ultimately lost to Finland who progressed to the semifinals of the tournament.
2024: Return to Australian Open and top 160

In January 2024, Raonic returned to the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
using protected ranking, where his first round match was against home favourite
Alex de Minaur
Alex de Minaur Román (born 17 February 1999) is an Australian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of No. 6 on 15 July 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 58 on 12 October ...
. Raonic took the first set and de Minaur took the second. In the third set de Minaur had secured a break when Raonic retired from the game with a leg injury.
In February 2024, Raonic was scheduled to play for
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
again at the
Davis Cup qualifiers versus South Korea but did not participate.
He returned to the top 200 at world No. 197 on 18 March 2024.
In the beginning of the grass court season, again using protected ranking, he reached his second quarterfinal of the season at the
2024 Libéma Open in
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...
(after
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
) defeating eight seed
Jordan Thompson and
Roberto Bautista Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP in singles, achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista Agut ...
. Next he entered the
2024 Queen's Club Championships and defeated local favorite
Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie (; born 23 August 1995) is a British professional tennis player. He has reached career-high ATP Rankings, rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 12 September 2022) and No. 117 in doubles (on 13 June 2022). Norrie has won five ATP ...
in three tight sets, hitting 47 aces, a new record for a best-of-three match (surpassing Karlovic in 2015 with 45). As a result he moved into the top 160 in the ATP live rankings.
National representation
Early in his career, Raonic was questioned about whether he would follow the example of Rusedski, the last prominent Canadian tennis player, who decided to represent Great Britain instead. Raonic declared that he would play for Canada.
Raonic embraced his role as Canada's top singles player, intent on growing the game in Canada. He stated in 2010: "I want to make a difference in Canada with
y career I feel if I were to achieve my goals it could make a great difference to the growth of tennis in Canada and help to produce more top players in the future."
Before a Davis Cup tie with Japan in 2015, he said: "I'm here because I want to be here. I don't have anybody telling me I need to be here. I want to succeed at this event, and I want to succeed representing Canada."
Davis Cup
From 2010 to 2016,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
competed in 16
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
ties. Raonic represented Canada in 11 of those ties, missing five due to injury:
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
in
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
and
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
in 2016.
Overall, Raonic has 16 match wins in 22 Davis Cup matches (14–5 in singles; 2–1 in doubles). He is one of the most successful players in Canadian Davis Cup history, tied for sixth in match wins overall and for third in singles match wins.
Raonic made his Davis Cup debut in Bogotá against
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
in
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
at the age of 19. Raonic lost both of his singles matches (against
Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo Salazar (, born 27 November 1987) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. He played on the ATP tour and represented Colombia Davis Cup team, Colombia in the Davis Cup competition. His best tournament result is reachi ...
and
Juan Sebastián Cabal
Juan Sebastián Cabal Valdés (; born 25 April 1986) is a Colombian former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 in doubles, he also reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 184 in February 2011.
Cabal is a three-time Grand Slam cham ...
), but won his doubles match partnered with Nestor, who was then the top ranked doubles player in the world. His first singles match victory came in Canada's next tie against the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
, when he beat
Víctor Estrella Burgos in five sets. This marked the first five set match of Raonic's career. Competing against
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, Raonic won three
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds.
Types of polyisoprene ...
s in a tie for the first time, beating both
Manuel Sánchez and
Daniel Garza in singles and partnering with Pospisil to win in doubles as well.
In the
2013 Davis Cup World Group first round, Raonic won singles rubbers over Ramos Viñolas and
Guillermo García López to lead Canada over top-seeded
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. He repeated this feat with victories over
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is Clay court#Red clay, ...
and Seppi to help Canada defeat
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in the quarterfinals, sending Canada into the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 1913. In the semifinal against
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, Raonic won his singles match over Tipsarević, but lost to No. 1 Djokovic as Canada was eliminated. The defeat marked Raonic's first singles match against Djokovic.
Olympics
Raonic
represented Canada at the
London 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
Olympics and competed in the
singles competition as an unseeded player. He won his first-round match over Japan's
Tatsuma Ito in straight sets. In the second round, Raonic lost to French player Tsonga 3–6, 6–3, 23–25, breaking
three Olympic tennis records. The match holds the records for the most games played in a best-of-three sets match (66 games) and the most games played in a single set (48 games) in Olympic history.
At the time, it was the longest Olympic match by time played (3 hours 57 minutes),
but this record was broken three days later in the semifinal match between Federer and del Potro (4 hours 26 minutes).
Raonic decided not to play in the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
, citing health concerns and the
Zika virus
Zika virus (ZIKV; pronounced or ) is a member of the virus family ''Flaviviridae''. It is spread by daytime-active ''Aedes'' mosquitoes, such as '' A. aegypti'' and '' A. albopictus''. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where ...
.
Hopman Cup
In 2014, Raonic partnered with Bouchard to represent
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
in the
Hopman Cup
The Hopman Cup is an international tennis tournament that plays mixed teams (one male and one female) on a country-by-country basis. It was first held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, played on indoor hardcourt, before b ...
. Raonic won two of three singles matches, and paired with Bouchard to win two of three doubles matches. Canada finished in second place in their pool—behind top-seeded
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
—and were eliminated.
Playing style

The most distinctive part of Raonic's game is his powerful and accurate
serve,
from which his "Missile" nickname is derived.
He is frequently cited as having one of the best serves among his contemporaries, along with Karlović and Isner.
Some consider Raonic's serve to be among the best of all time.
Sampras, Raonic's childhood idol, describes the Canadian's serve as "bigger than big." After a match against Raonic, Djokovic commented "I can't recall the last time I was feeling so helpless returning. Even his second serve."
Women's tennis player
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
has said that "If she could take one thing from another player, it would be Milos Raonic's serve." Statistically, Raonic is among the strongest servers in the Open Era, winning 91% of service games to rank third all-time.
Raonic has one of the
fastest recorded serves of all time.
Aided by his serve, Raonic employs an
all-court style
with an emphasis on short points. His
groundstroke
In racket sports a groundstroke, or ground stroke, refers to a forehand or backhand shot that is executed after the ball has bounced on the court. The term is commonly used in the sports of tennis and pickleball, and is counter to a volley sh ...
s are both good,
but his
forehand is stronger than his
backhand
The backhand is a shot used in most racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and pickleball, where the back of the hand precedes the palm when swinging the racket. Except in the phrase ''backhand volley'', the term refers to a groundstr ...
. Because of this, he has been known to run around his backhand and hit
inside-out forehands instead. He attempts to dictate play and is generally more aggressive than his opponent, as evidenced by usually having more
winners and more
unforced errors.
To finish points quickly, Raonic occasionally approaches the net, with either a
serve and volley
Serve-and-volley is a style of play in tennis where the player (volleyer) serving moves quickly towards the net after hitting a serve, to attempt to hit a volley afterwards. In the serve-and-volley playstyle, the server attempts to hit a volley ...
or
chip and charge strategy.
Raonic prefers playing on
hard courts,
where he has been more successful than on
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
or
grass
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
courts. All but two of the tournaments where Raonic has reached the final have been played on hard courts, and all but three of his victories over top10 players have been on hard courts as well.
When he was twenty, the ''
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only. '' described Raonic as a "hothead whose on-court demeanour was holding him back."
As he grew older, commentators came to see him as "stoic", "robotic", and "emotionless", with ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' referring to him as "an analytical character who questions everything he does in practice". In 2014, Raonic explained: "I'm the son of two engineers, so everything is a numbers and calculation game." In 2016, he added: "I am very systematic in how
need to go about things to bring out the best tennis for myself, and maybe that comes off as mechanical and robotic and those kind of things, but I don't know if I'd ever change that because I feel that's the way I get the best out of myself when it comes to my tennis."
Aspects of Raonic's game which have been criticized include his return of serve, quickness and mobility,
backhand,
short game,
and the use of backspin or sidespin.
His above-average height—196cm (6ft 5in)—is linked to his strong serve, but is said to limit his movement around the court.
Equipment and apparel
Raonic endorses the
Wilson BLX Blade 98 18x20
tennis racket, and uses LUXILON M2 Pro 1.25 16L
strings. In January 2013, Raonic became the first tennis player to endorse
New Balance clothing and shoes, in a deal reported to be worth "US$1 million annually over a five-year term."
Roughly two and a half years later, this deal was extended "for the length of
aonic'scareer and beyond,"
and stipulates that New Balance will increase its support of the Milos Raonic Foundation. The lifelong nature of this contract was described by Tennis Canada as "unique."
Since March 2014, Raonic has donned a sleeve on his right arm while playing.
At first, he wore a fisherman's sleeve to cover a rash he had due to an allergic reaction to massage cream. This was replaced with an athletic compression sleeve, often colour-coordinated with his on-court apparel. The sleeve is worn for comfort, and wearing it became a habit for Raonic.
The sleeve has become a distinctive part of Raonic's image, and has spawned a Twitter account. The motto "Believe in the Sleeve" has become synonymous with Raonic in the media and among Raonic's fans.
Serena Williams described the sleeve as "super cool and different."
Raonic is represented by CAA Sports, a division of
Creative Artists Agency
Creative Artists Agency, LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous client ...
.
His other sponsorship deals include
Aviva
Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...
(insurance),
Canada Goose
The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North A ...
(apparel),
Commerce Court
Commerce Court is an office building complex on King and Bay Streets in the financial district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The four-building complex is a mix of Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, ar ...
(real estate),
Lacoste (apparel),
Rolex
Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...
(watches),
SAP (software), and Zepp (sports metrics).
Rivals and contemporaries
Raonic and the Big Four
Raonic holds a combined 9–36 record against the
Big Four,
including 0–11 against Djokovic,
2–7 against Nadal,
3–11 against Federer,
and 4–9 against Murray.
Each of Raonic's deepest runs in significant tournaments (i.e. majors and ATP 1000 tournaments) has ended with a loss to a member of the Big Four: Nadal in the 2013 Canadian Open final,
Federer in the 2014 Wimbledon semifinal,
Djokovic in the 2014 Paris Masters final,
Murray in the 2016 Australian Open semifinal, Djokovic in the 2016 Indian Wells Masters final,
Murray in the 2016 Wimbledon final,
and Murray in the semifinals of the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals. At majors, Raonic has a 1–8 record against the Big Four, losing the first five matches in straight sets.
He has met only one of the four in Davis Cup play: he lost to Djokovic in the
2013 semifinals.
Raonic's most frequent opponent, either inside or outside the Big Four, is Federer (14 matches).
His first victory over Federer in the 2014 Paris Masters quarterfinal was hailed as "a career-defining win."
His second victory over Federer—at the 2016 Brisbane International—was his first in a final against the Big Four.
A third victory over Federer—in the 2016 Wimbledon semifinal—marked Raonic's first victory at a Grand Slam tournament against the Big Four.
Raonic referred to his match against Murray at the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals as "the best match
e's
is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...
ever competed in."
Raonic and Nishikori
Kei Nishikori
is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
is often cited as Raonic's primary rival.
The two have very different strengths; according to ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', Raonic uses his "size and his serve", while Nishikori uses his "savvy and speed."
Both are the first from their respective countries to achieve a top10 ranking,
and both have a career-high ranking inside the top4.
In May 2015, they were the two youngest players in the top10.
Nishikori holds a 5–2 advantage in seven close matches, including two wins in the
Japan Open final (2012, 2014). Of the twenty-five sets they have played, ten have required a tiebreak. Only one of their matches has been a straight sets victory. Five matches have required the maximum number of sets.
One of these was a marathon US Open five-set match that equalled the record for latest finish ever at 2:26 a.m.
Nishikori and Raonic are among a group of players whom tennis pundits suggest could be the successors of the Big Four. The members of this group vary, but have included
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov Dimitrov (, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Bulgari ...
,
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 20 ...
,
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
, and
Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...
.
Raonic holds a positive record against Gulbis and Thiem, having won on all six combined occasions, but has a negative record against Čilić and Dimitrov, having lost four matches to the latter in six meetings, including one walkover.
Raonic and Pospisil
Pospisil is more of a contemporary rather than a rival of Raonic. Owing to their similarity in age—Pospisil is six months older
—and the fact that both are successful products of Tennis Canada's development programs,
they have been linked as the leaders of a new generation of Canadian tennis players.
They partnered in doubles frequently early in their careers, winning doubles titles together in junior and ATP Challenger events.
Between 2011 and 2015, Raonic and Pospisil have been the two top-ranked Canadian men in year-end rankings. As well as four ATP Challenger and Futures matches, they have played each other in two ATP World Tour matches:
Raonic beat Pospisil in the first all-Canadian semifinal at an ATP 1000 tournament,
and in the first all-Canadian final in ATP history.
They are frequent Davis Cup teammates,
and they planned to play doubles together at the
2016 Rio Olympics until Raonic withdrew.
Raonic, Isner, and Karlović
Raonic is often compared to Isner and Karlović.
The trio possess statistically dominant serves, leading the ATP in service games won and in aces per match in the period between 2012 and 2018.
They have played each other infrequently, however. Raonic is 1–1 against Karlović
and 1–5 against Isner.
Karlović holds a 3–2 head-to-head advantage over Isner.
Philanthropy
In 2011, while recovering from a hip injury sustained at Wimbledon, Raonic decided to become involved with philanthropic work, focusing on helping disadvantaged children. The following year, in 2012, he launched the Milos Raonic Foundation,
which aims to "support children from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to remove economic, physical and other barriers that might prevent them from becoming healthy, productive members of society. ... In the initial stages of its work, the foundation will focus, in particular, on children with physical disabilities."
As of 2016, the foundation had awarded $120,000 in grants to the
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital,
and $30,000 to the
Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Raonic and his parents are the three directors of the foundation,
which has partnered with ATP Aces for Charity.
Several celebrity fundraising events have been held in conjunction with the foundation. On November 15, 2012, the inaugural "Raonic Race for Kids" was held, with multiple teams competing in quick physical and intellectual challenges. Teams were led by celebrities, including
Canadian Football Hall of Fame
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...
quarterback
Damon Allen and tennis players
Eugenie Bouchard
Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...
and
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; ; born Danijel Nestorović, September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 108 weeks ( fifth-most ...
. The next night, a second "Face Off" event featured exhibition matches between Raonic and
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
, and between
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
and
Agnieszka Radwańska
Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), in July 2012. Radwańska won 20 WTA Tour sing ...
.
In November 2013, the second "Raonic Race for Kids" featured
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...
captain
Martin Laurendeau, musician
Jim Cuddy
James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo.
Early life and education
Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch P ...
, and broadcaster
George Stroumboulopoulos. The third "Raonic Race for Kids" in November 2014 featured Tennis Canada CEO
Kelly Murumets, soccer player
Dwayne De Rosario, and figure-skating champions
Patrick Chan
Patrick Lewis Wai–Kuan Chan (born December 31, 1990) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. He is a Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, Figure skating at the 2014 ...
,
Tessa Virtue
Tessa Jane McCormick Virtue (born May 17, 1989) is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With ice dance partner Scott Moir, she is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medallist, a three-time World champion (2010, 2012, 2017) ...
, and
Scott Moir
Scott Patrick Moir ( ; born September 2, 1987) is a Canadian retired ice dancer and coach. With ice dance partner Tessa Virtue, he is the Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics, 2010 and Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics, 2018 Olym ...
.
In December 2020 it was announced that Raonic joined the High Impact Athletes, an organization based on the
effective altruism
Effective altruism (EA) is a 21st-century philosophical and social movement that advocates impartially calculating benefits and prioritizing causes to provide the greatest good. It is motivated by "using evidence and reason to figure out how to b ...
movement where professional athletes pledge to donate at least 1% of its income to the most effective, evidence based charities in the world.
Career statistics
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
''Current through the
2024 US Open.''
Note:
''Milos Raonic has not played doubles at any Grand Slam tournament.''
Grand Slam finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Records
* These records were attained in the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
of tennis (post-1968).
Awards
*2011 –
ATP Newcomer of the Year
*2011 –
Tennis Canada male player of the year
*2012 –
QMI Agency
The QMI Agency (), a division of Quebecor Media, is an integrated news agency. Founded in 2008, it offers services to media customers in Quebec.
Journalism
QMI Agency engages in real-time news coverage for its subsidiaries and business partners ...
Canadian Male Athlete of the Year
*2012 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
*2013 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
*2013 –
Lionel Conacher Award
The Lionel Conacher Award is an annual award given to Canada's male athlete of the year. The sports writers of the Canadian Press (CP) first conducted a poll to determine the nation's top athlete, of either gender, in 1932. Separate polls for the ...
*2014 – Emirates ATP Top 10 Trophy
*2014 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
*2014 – Lionel Conacher Award
*2014 –
Canadian Club of Toronto's Canadian of the Year
*2015 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
*2016 – Toronto Sports Hall of Honour male athlete of the year
*2016 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
See also
*
List of Canadian sports personalities
The following is a list of Canadians, Canadian sports personalities.
Olympic athletes
* Jean-Paul Banos (born 1961), fencer
*Alex Baumann, Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, swimmer
*Josh Binstock (born 1981), volleyball player
*Patrick Chan, Ottawa
*V ...
Notes
Sources
*
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raonic, Milos
1990 births
Living people
Canadian male tennis players
Olympic tennis players for Canada
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Canadian people of Montenegrin descent
Canadian people of Serbian descent
Canadian television sportscasters
Montenegrin emigrants to Canada
Naturalized citizens of Canada
People from Monte Carlo
Racket sportspeople from Ontario
Serbs of Montenegro
Sportspeople from Podgorica
Sportspeople from Thornhill, Ontario
Tennis commentators
Yugoslav emigrants to Canada
21st-century Canadian sportsmen